Space Fleet Space-Log Episode 16
Episode 16 - Reaming the Aeschylus Part 5; The Epienreamenalogue??? Spacedate: 4257.082.12.42 An Interrogation of the Cal-Mon Raider Prisoner drew some Terrified Ranting about the Ultra-Net being Out, the Entire Crew Going Crazy, and the Ship being Over-Run with Space Zombies. He did make a Slightly More Specific Mention of 'The Sarge' having gone Psychotic and Barricading himself and his 2 top Henchmen into the Engineering Bay on the level below, although it was not clear if this happened before or after the Enborganation of the half of the Crew that had Implants. Following orders from Sgt Johnson over the Radio, the Noobs secured the Prisoner with Space-Tape to one of the Ladders in the Aechylus' Engineering Bay. He seemed a bit concerned about being Rendered Helpless and left alone with all of the Ultra-Borgs Roaming the Ship, so it was decided among the Squad that the Humane thing to do would be to Space-Tape His Eyes Shut. For Some Reason this seemed to Render him into a Frenzy of Paranoid Terror, but it was nothing a Space-Tape Gag couldn't help. Fortunately NPC Braxxz was available to make the Mechanics Check required to Operate the Space Tape. Zorf, relying on his Innate Spacecraft Design Knowledge, Insisted that the Engineering Bay on the Level Below them must be located Directly Beneath the Engineering Bay that they were currently in, and that they should break into 2 Groups and Descend the Ladders found on either side of the room. There was some debate about the complexity of this plan, as the Ladders had Airlock Hatches at the Top & Bottom that were Programmed Not to Open at the Same Time, requiring Braxxz to work some more of his Technomagic, and also looked Extremely Tight for Ray-Mann's Over-Sized Construct. With much climbing in and out of the Ladder Shaft, eventually the Noobs were able to get the Top Hatch Jammed Open, while Zorf opened the Bottom Hatch and cautiously peeked out into the Chamber Below. As predicted, this was the Lower Engineering Bay, and there were indeed three Extremely Tough Looking Cal-Mon Raiders Located Within. Unfortunately, the sound of the Hatch Opening attracted their attention, causing them to Notice Zorf, who Immediately Withdrew Back Up the Ladder. Thereafter followed a Round of Everybody on Both Levels Powering Up and Moving About in order to Better Position Themselves, with no-one on Either Level knowing what was going on on the other Level. Sprout dashed across the Room to get to the Other Ladder, while Ray-Mann, Professing that he "Likes it Extremely Tight", Cautiously Lowered himself into the first Ladder Shaft. As predicted, he Got Stuck Halfway Down, and was Forced to Stop and Spend Some Actions Disentangling Himself from a Bundle of Conduits that Passed Through the Space. Even Still, he managed to get to the Bottom and Re-Open his Hatch before Sprout could get to the one on his Side, Slowed Down by having to open Multiple Hatches, and then realizing that the one at the Bottom of the Shaft had not yet been De-Virused! Just as Braxx was Moving Towards the Ladder to Follow his Comrades, the Engine-Core Overload-Light Went Off on the Console in the Center of the Room, possibly indicating that the Psychotic Cal-Mon Sargent was set on Destroying the Ship rather than letting it be captured? Braxx decided he would try to Rectify the Situation rather than joining the Impending Fight, leaving the Odds Even at 3 on 3. It was as Ray Dropped through into the Lower Engineering Bay and took a Triggered Strike from one of the Cal-Mon Below that everyone agreed that this Plan Definitely Sucked, and why had they listened to Zorf anyway when Ray-Mann was the Designated Squad Leader? Things started to Get a Bit More Organized when Zorf and Sprout both Translocated Directly Down to the Lower Level, (Sprout avoiding the Virusy Hatch's attempt to Cut Him In Half!). This was Short-Lived However, as it resulted in all of the PCs being Spread Out, and each Engaging a Different Foe. While Ray and Sprout faced off with the Henchmen who were Taking Cover among the Fusion Generator's Cooling-Manifolds, Zorf charged towards the Enraged Sarge, who Opened Up on him with Paired Simultaneous Bursts from his 2 Energy SMGs. The Henchmen Subsequently Closed in on the other Marines so that they could use their Paired-Simultaneous Melee / Energy Pistol Strikes, but this proved largely Futile, as Ray Relentlessly Blasted his Opponent with Bead Lightning from his Construct's Mental Nodes, and then the Cal-Mon Fumbled his Energy Knife, Dropping it at Ray's Feet! With only 1 Hit left in the Face of Ray's Double Armor Bypassing Strikes, he fell back, Taking Cover behind some Rather Essential looking Engine Parts. Things weren't going Much Better for the Raider Henchman on the Other Side of the Room, as eventually he Failed his Mind Save against Sprout's Mental Attack, being Forced to Shoot Himself with his own High-Caliber Energy Pistol. Things got a bit more Hilarious when Sprout Subsequently Fumbled and Hit himself as well, (for Double Accuracy + Strength!). Meanwhile, Zorf Continued moving in on the Sarge, Counter-Bursting Away with his Burn Damage Ferociously. With his Opponent Temporarily Out of the Fight, Ray also turned his attention to the Sarge, hitting him with a Natural 20 for a modified 50-Even to Strike! A Polite Golf Clap was Received From the Group. The Melee was Vicious and Brutal, the Raiders putting up a Hell of a Fight, with even Ray's Badly Damaged Opponent Retrieving his Knife and Rejoining the Battle, but the Delta Squad Marines Cleaned Up with Brutal Efficiency, Shocking, Burning and Colding their Opponents into Submission. Both Henchmen were Mercilessly Slaughtered, but the Sarge was Randomly Left at 0 DC, (but Burn 12!). It was Debated for a Bit whether to Put the Fire Out or not, but In the End it was Determined that he might make a Valuable Prisoner, so his Flames were Doused Just in Time to Save Him. In the Meantime, Braxx again used his Mad Techno-Skillz to Save the Ship. With Ray's Blessing, Sprout Drained Braxx of 15 Mental Points as Reward. Spacedate: 4257.082.12.56 After Exploring the Port and Starboard Aft Service Bays and Un-Welding and De-Virusing the Forward Hatch in the Lower Engineering Bay, the Noobs Moved Ahead into the Lower Cargo Hull, where a Variety of Salvage was Uncovered and Seized. They then Carried On to the Forward Starboard Service Bay, where Braxx noticed a Power Conduit that Seemed Over-Sized for its Intended Purpose, and Fell Behind the Group as he Investigated it Further. Just Then, Ray opened the Hatch to the Aft Elevator Hub, wherein lay 2 Ultra-Borgs in Wait. With Ray's Giant Mental Construct Blocking the Hallway, the 'Borg's Proceeded to Unload On Him with their Bursting Cyber-Gatling Energy Cannons while Sprout and Zorf Spent the First Round Hiding Behind Him and Powering Up. It would've been Very Difficult for them to get by him and Into the Fight without their Translocation Psionics, which they eventually did Get Around to Using the Next Round to Beam past the Melee and Behind the 'Borgs. Meanwhile, 2 More Ultra-Borgs were trying to do thier Standard Flank Around Behind Them thing, but they had to Back-Track all the way back Through the Cargo Bay to Get Around, and with the Noobs Actually Concentrating Fire on Individual Targets, they had Easily Dispatched the first 2 'Borgs by the time the Second Pair Made it All the Way Around to their Location. This left Zorf and Sprout in the Awkward Position of Again Being Stuck on the Wrong Side of Ray again, (who at least Had the Decency to Soak-Up another Batch of Bursts for his Trouble). With Mental Points Running Low it was Questionable if it was Worth It to Translocate Past Ray Again, but as a Melee Specialist Sprout didn't have Much of a Choice, (unless he wanted to spend a Couple of Rounds going Around the Long Way like the 'Borgs Had). No Sooner had he Done So, charging towards them as well, then the Round Ended and the Hatch Closed Behind Him, Closing Zorf and Ray on the Other Side! Fortunately, the Ultra-Borgs Rolled a Poor Initiative, alowing Ray to get the Door Open and Zorf to Beam In. With the Additional Application of Concentrated Fire, the Marines soon Laid Low the Last Pair of the Foul Space Zombies, just as Braxx emerged from the Service Bay to Announce that he had discovered a Concealed Smugglers Hold containing 40,000 Credits worth of Gold Pressed Latinum, an Un-Tracable Black-Market Currency. The Marines then Proceed to Finish Searching the Remainder of the Aft Portion of the Ship, The Companionways, and another set of Crew Quarters Port and Starboard of the Forward Elevator Hub. Spacedate: 4257.082.13.17 Passing through the Forward Airlock of the Elevator Hub, Delta Squad entered what appeared to be a Large Hydroponics Bay, which took up the Entire Front of the Vessel. Ray had not Proceeded Far In before he Spotted 3 Terrified looking Cal-Mon Raiders Hiding among the Foliage. Zorf Considered Trying to Talk Them Down, but Ray, Clearly Sensing that they were Obviously Crazy, (due to Either the Ultra-Net Withdrawal, or Being Trapped on a Ghost-Ship with Frick'n Space Zombies for Days!), Instead Yelled "Its On!". He did Not Say "Bitches", Yet After That, It was On. But Not for Long. While the Raiders had been a Decent Threat when First Introduced, even these Buffed Versions were No Match for the Noobs now, their Lack of Ridiculous Damage Riders and Minimal Armor Piercing Rendering them Pretty Feeble, and they Were Soon Put Out of Their Misery. Sensing an Opportunity of Minimal Supervision, Delta Squad Proceeded to Steal a 4 Hour Block By Pretending to be Still Disenvirusing the Ship. Much to Everyone's Great Disturbance, Sprout Took the Opportunity to Exchange Genetic Material with the Plants of the Hydroponics Bay Right in Front of Everyone. Soon Everyone Abandoned the Area, leaving Sprout on his Own while hew Worked Over Row after Row of Food Plants. Spacedate: 4257.082.17.32 After Sucessfully Grinding Out a 4-Hour Block in Various Locations abord the Aechylus, the Noobs returned to the Boreas aboard the Transit Shuttle. After the Noobs were Held in Quarantine for a 4-Hour Block on the Shuttle, it was Decontaminated and Commander Petiole and a couple of Squads of Red and Blue Shirts used it to Head Over to the Aechylus. One more Block and with Both Ships now Manned and Operable, (and having had had a Clean-Up on Aisles 4, 7, 9, 12 and 15, As Applicable), they Eased their Way Out of the Asteroid Belt and Set Course for Jupiter Station. The Noobs However, were subjected by Dr. Mordin to another 4 Hour Block of Medical Procedures during this Time, Focusing on Brain Scans of their Frontal Cortexes. The Good Doctor's Concern related to the Appearance of Symptoms Indicative of Excessive Hypnotron Usage, a type of Potential Brain Damage! He requested Master Chief Scotty Come By and Re-Calibrate his Hypnotron Unit, as he was sure that must be the Source of the Issue, as the Only Other Explanation would be some sort of Cross-Contamination from a Non-Governmentally Sanctioned Machine, and that didn't Make any Sense Now Did It? Maybe it has something to do with All of the Marines getting Repeatedly Pumped Full of Ultra-Borg Nano-Goo...? He'll need to Invest More 4-Hour Blocks, He Goes Away Muttering. The Noobs Spend the Night in the Sick-Bay for Further Observation, but Other than Sprout's Usual Whinging in his Sleep about "The Worms, The Worms!", Nothing Eventful Comes to Pass. Spacedate: 4257.083.08.00 The Noobs are Up Bright and Early the Next Morning, Metaphoricaly Bushy-Tailed etc., (Sprout now Finally being Recovered from his Implant Rejection). The Marines were Off-Duty for the 3''' '''more 4 Hour Blocks, (1 of which With Access to the GFP Hypnotron, despite Dr. Mordin's Better Judgement), that it took to reach Jupiter Station. Spacedate: 4257.083.19.24 Once Back at the Jupiter Station, an Away-Team, Consisting of Captain Bar-Ack, Councellor Trois, Dr. Mordin and Master Chief Scotty is Assembled. Delta Squad of course Accompanies Them as an Honor Guard, while Sgt Johnson as usual is Left Behind on the Ship, Grumbling. Once Aboard, the Group Headed Immediately and As Usual Directly To the GFP Embassey to Brief Admiral Lupis and Gunnery Sargeant Dunford. Needless to Say, the 2 Officers were Not Too Enthused to Hear About the 2.0 Version of the Virus, Its Speed of Transmission, Resistance to Detection and Eradication, or its Ability to Corrupt Implant Nanites to Literally 'Hack' Sentient Beings. Bar-Ack's Attempts to Calm them by Explaining about the Apparent Ultra-Borg Hive-Mind, the Ultra-Borg Queen and the Tachyon Burst to the System's Primary Com Node Seemed to Pretty Much Straight-Up Fail, Especially Given that Long Range Scans of the Com Node Seemed to Indicate another, Stronger Pulse Sent from it Shortly after the First Arrived. The Exact Destination was impossible to Pin-Point from So Far away, But it was definitely Back Towards the Central Systems. The Space-Fleet Report as usual Over-Emphasized the Heroics of their Own Staff, at the Expense of the Marines of course. With the GFP Types All Up to Speed, it was then Time to Bring in the Terran Representatives; Commander Burke of the Corporate United Nations of Terra, and the Top Ranked Officers of the Amalgamated Security Services and it's Fast Acting Response Tactical Squadrons on the Station, Lance Corporal Trent and Sargent Scarlette. Burke Seemed Non-Plussed by the Reports, More Concerned about the Surveillance of the Terran Home World and Its Nearest Outposts that they had been Performing, now that All of the Stations's Systems were Back Up and Running. It Appeared as though the Ultron Virus had Ripped a Wide Swath through the Technologically Dependent Terran Elites, with all of their Space Stations Disabled or Destroyed, (and One Just Completely Missing With-Out a Trace). In Addition, on Terra itself, (or 'Dirt' as the Terrans Insist on Calling It, it Must Be Another one of Those Things that Doesn't Translate Well into Galactic Common?), the Technological Collapse has Gutted the Government Military Forces, Leaving them at the Mercy of the Long Oppressed and Now-Enraged by Ultra-Net Deprivation Terran Underclass. Burke Suggests that the Aechylus be Commandeered by the ASS, and that It, along with the Boreas and it's Space Fleet Crew should Proceed Immediately to Render Assistance with the Anti-Viral Technology. Admiral Lupis was, of Course, Having None of this, Pointing Out that that Level of Assistance went Far Beyond what was Required by the Terran-GFP Inter-Species Cooperation Treaty, and that the Boreas' Primary Responsibility was to Track the Tachyon Pulse back to the Sol Com-Node, Disenvirus It, then Track Down the Borg Queen, Defeat Her, Bring the Anti-Virus Technology back to the Central Systems and to Discover the Source of the Virus and Eradicate it, thereby Saving the Federation and in fact the Entire Galaxy. Burke didn't look Like he Was Buying It until Scotty Pointed Out that, also, until the Com-Node was Cleaned, every Ship Using it to Navigate into the System would immediately be Infected with the Ultron 2 Virus, and that any Implant Using Creatures Aboard would be Likely Transformed into Ultra-Borgs! The Idea of a Never-Ending Series of Plague Ships Entering his Jurisdiction did Seem to Be One that the Commander Could Do Without At this Point. It was then that Master Chief Scotty Dropped a Bit of a Bomb; He Claimed to have a Plan to Restore Ultra-Net Service if he could Get Access to the Local-Cache Memory Banks aboard the Com-Node. This Seemed a Bit Preposterous to the Terrans, so they Called-In their Technical Adviser, Dr Oppenhiemer. Doc Op posited that due to the Shear Volume of Data contained within the Ultra-Net Local-Cache, it would be Impossible to Clense in Any Reasonable Amount of Time, Given the Currently Available Level of Anti-Virus Technology. Surprisingly, Scotty Concurred, but claimed that Step Could be Avoided by Purging the Whole System with an EMP Overload. Everybody looked at him In Confusion, as Obviously that would Delete the Very Data they were Trying to Save. "But then I'll just Upload my Clean Copy from my Hard Port-Only Back-Up Drive", He explained. "Your Copy of what?", Doc Op wanted to know. "Well the Ultra-Net Obviously" was the Reply. A Round of Blank Looks From Everyone. "What, doesn't Anybody Else Here Keep a Private Back-Up Cached Copy of the Ultra-Net on a Hard-Port Only Quantum-Hyper Disk?", asked The Master Chief. "Anybody?". Another Round of Blank Looks From Everyone. As it Turns Out, Not Only does he Not Only Suffer from the Exact Same Paranoid Delusion that Ray Does, (that the Entire Ultron Virus Thing is a Direct Conspiracy Against Him), also, rather than being a Result of Ultranet Deprivation like Ray's, Scotty's Paranoia was Despite it, and far more Deeply Held, (as Evidenced by his Private Back-Up Cached Copy of the Ultra-Net on a Hard-Port Only Quantum-Frick'n-Hyper Disk!). It took a Few More Hours of Negotiating, but in the End it was Agreed that Lance Corporal Trent would Take the Aeschylus and Mount an ASS-Led Mission to Rescue the 'Dirt' and the Terran Elites, Captain Bar-Ack and the Space Fleet Crew would take the Boreas and head to the Sol System Tachyon Com-Node, and Admiral Lupis, Gunnery Sargeant Dunford, Commander Burke and Sargent Scarlette were to Remain on Jupiter Station to Oversee the Continued Production of Ionic Deuterium in the Hopes of Maintaining a Functional High-Tech Society Moving into the Future. Episode 16 Epilogue At This Point, Captain Bar-Ack Stated that it was time to Rotate the Marine Crews as per his Original Orders, Alpha Squad being Scheduled to Return to the Central Systems with the Boreas, with Delta Squad to Remain Behind to Secure the Station, the PCs with nothing to look Forward to except Occasional Rotations down to the Ice Base, while the NPCs were all off to Save the Galaxy! This is where, for Optimum Dramatic Tension, I should have Called It, Cliff-Hangering this out over a Week! Perhaps due to my Not Minimal Level of Intoxication, I Let it Slip that Sargent Scarlette, Looking Quite Alarmed at the thought of the PCs Sticking Around Pretty Much Any Length of Time at All, Interceded with Commander Burke, Whispering Something in His Ear, (while Surreptitiously Rubbing his Thigh Under the Table), Whereupon he Raises the Issue with Admiral Lupis, as far as that the Marines who have been Stationed There Already have such a 'Good Grasp' of all of the 'Local Cultural Issues', and it would Really Be a Shame to Send them Away Right When Things were Looking their Bleakest! Under new Orders from Admiral Lupis, Captain Bar-Ack actually Looked Quite Pleased that Delta Squad would be Remaining On-Board his Ship. It Seems Likely that Councellor Trois will order R&R for the Crew before leaving on a Mission of Galactic Importance with no Known Duration, Doesn't It? 8 Generic Points added on the Space Fleet PC Tracking Page, (3 Combats). Back to Space-Log Category:Space Fleet